Pet Love: It's Not Only Dogs, Goats Can Be Man's Best Friend Too!

Goats can do almost everything a dog can. According to the new research published in the Biology Letters journal, animal psychologists at Queen Mary University of London concluded that goats are capable of being trained and are much clever than dogs. The researchers stared into the beady black pupil of the goat and had an idea that it could be more like a dog.

The researchers experimented on the goats by giving them social tests. In order to see how the goats would react to impossible tasks, the researchers gave the goat a box that is very difficult to open. According to Dr. Christian Nawroth one of the study authors, "Goats gaze at humans in the same way as dogs do when asking for a treat that is out of reach. Our results provide strong evidence for complex communication directed at humans in a species that was domesticated primarily for agricultural production, and show similarities with animals bred to become pets or working animals, such as dogs and horses."

The goats reacted the way a dog would, by peering up to humans imploringly. The goats gaze at their owners when they are struggling to complete a task which shows they could be pets like dogs and knows how to co-exist with humans. Cows are also intelligent and clever but according to Dr. Jenna Kiddie, in terms of social aspects of humans and animal relationship it is still under explored.

Common myth of taking goats as a pet would require too much space and money. An article reported by Telegraph debunks that myth. A goat would cost around £50-£250 while a pedigree puppy would cost hundreds or sometimes thousands of pounds. A 6ft high link fence and a large doghouse would do as a shelter for the goat which has a total for £5300.

The goats eat hay which costs £100 while the dog's food usually cost £300-£450. Routine vets for goats usually cost £150 a year while dogs cost same but also requires many treatments such as deworming, flea and etc. Overall costs of a pet goat would estimate up to £10,000 over its lifetime, compared with dogs who range around £16,000- £31,000 depending on its size.